I understand the purpose behind residential associations, and I have to say it could be a good idea if the so called “power” of members of the board was not abused. I have the feeling that there are at least a few members on the board who are on a power trip and have nothing better to do than to annoy and harass members of the community.

Let me explain: As some of you know, I have lived in a townhome community for the past 3 1/2 years. I’m sure several of you have received “tickets” for violating the rules of the community. Parking here is quite an ordeal as the streets themselves are poorly designed and are quite narrow, not really adequately designed to allow traffic here, but that’s another story.

Anyway, over these past 3 1/2 years we’ve received so called minor infractions on our record for parking, usually over silly things like blocking a mailbox (when we’re not) or parked on the grass (when the front bumper is hanging over the concrete pad by 2″). We’re quite sure it’s always the same person as we’ve had several run-ins with a neighbor across the street, but has not been anything other than a somewhat minor annoyance.

Until now.

Sometime around late August, my roommate’s car had broken down and he had it parked in the driveway until late October until I finally got him to move it to an overflow parking area so we could use the garage. Keep in mind, this parking area is away from anyone’s house and is rarely full. We thought it would be fine until we recently started getting notices complaining about the car being parked there for an extended period and that any parking here was only for day-to-day use. I figure it’s really not that big of a deal, ask him to move it a couple of times then not press the issue, since I don’t really care.

But here’s where the crap hits the fan. After a second notice we find that his passenger side car tires have both been slashed, which we find highly suspicious due to the fact that we already have someone complaining about nearly every little thing that we do so it should not be a coincidence that his car was vandalized. But it gets better, we find out that a week later his car was broken into, the electrical system ripped apart in addition to his radio stolen.

I’m normally a pretty understanding guy, but this has to stop. I don’t care what kind of problem you have with a person but vandalism is certainly not an answer, and I intend on pursuing this and finding out who it is. I hope whoever did this realizes that there is a potential for jail time in addition to hefty fine.

Needless to say, I’m tired of putting up with all of the crap that goes on here and the board with strict out-of-line senseless rules. I will be gone next year, and I will make sure to inform our land lady as to exactly why.

Now if you ignore the obvious out of tuneness of the road, this is really a neat idea, although I’m not sure of the practicality of it. According to this article, the road was located in Lancaster, CA for a stretch until residents complained about the noise of the road.

Interestingly enough, this is not the first musical road in the world, but rather the first road in the US to be deemed as such, as there are already several in Japan.

Well, I try to do something and it seems that something always gets the best of me. Unfortunately, my allergies had to intervene and threw my training schedule completely out of whack, so it looks like I won’t be able to compete in the 10k Vulcan Run this coming November.

I’ve been running off and on for the past year or two just to keep myself in shape, but haven’t really had anything to work towards. I’ve decided this year I am going to have a goal to work towards, so I’ve decided I’m going to participate in the Vulcan Run on November 1st. I haven’t run a 10k before, but I’ve been able to run close to a 5k (3 miles) in about 30 minutes.

I’ve been pacing myself at the moment and doing around 2 mile runs a couple of times a week. 6 miles seems like quite a stretch at the moment, but I think with enough time and dedication I’ll be able to pull it off. I still have 6 weeks to go, so I figure if I add half a mile a week I’ll be doing very good. I’ll keep things updated on this blog to help track my progress.

You don’t see very many good student bassoonists, as the instrument itself tends to be very expensive and is somewhat difficult to play. The following video is various arrangements for bassoon quintet playing various Mario themes. Enjoy!

I don’t normally brag a lot, but I have to at least brag about this. Some of you may have been aware I went to the beach this past weekend, but in either case, that’s where I was. Aside from hanging out on the beach a lot, Clint and I got to play a good bit of golf.

There is this 9 hole golf course across from one of the resorts that we could play unlimited golf for the week. Sadly, I had been playing quite poorly on the first round until about the sixth hole. I tee up, and hit a nice shot exclaiming, “It’s about time, this is the best shot I’ve made all day…” only to watch it bounce on the green and into the hole for a hole-in-one.

Of course, I was (and still am) very excited about the shot, no matter how lucky it may be. I can’t imagine very many people can say they’ve made a hole-in-one in golf so I’m very proud of the achievement even though it will probably be the first and last hole-in-one I’ll ever get.

I can’t say I’m usually very worried about getting my electronics wet, but in either case the following video shows something very cool. Apparently, Golden Shellback is a coating that coats your electronics, inside and out, in a non-conductive coating that protects your device from moisture. This is something you have to see to believe, so take a look:

Depending on the price, I could see this being worth it. Especially if you do a lot of activities around water where you would want to keep your electronics dry. Very spiffy!